University of Minnesota graduate student Sascha Lodge walks from her Falcon Heights home to the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus, where she studies natural resources science and management, on Monday morning, January 6, 2014. "It's a little windy out, but I have a lot of layers on," she said. (Pioneer Press: Chris Polydoroff)

The sun rises over a greenhouse on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota on Monday, January 6, 2014. (Pioneer Press: Chris Polydoroff)

Steam billowing from the District Energy St. Paul stack obscures the downtown St. Paul skyline at -17 degrees on Monday morning, January 6, 2014. (Pioneer Press: Richard Marshall)

Sergio Perez removes the jumper cables from his neighbor's truck after an unsuccesful attempt to jump his car Monday morning in the parking lot of Ames Lake Apartments on E. Magnolia Street in St. Paul--the fuel line had frozen up over night...as temperatures dipped to near record lows below zero with high wind chills on Monday morning January 6, 2014. (Pioneer Press: John Doman)

Arctic air pouring into the region sent temperatures in the Twin Cities plummeting Monday to the lowest they’ve been in at least a decade and made going outside downright dangerous for the unprepared.

In the Twin Cities, temperatures overnight fell to a low of 23 below zero and never rose above 12 below during the afternoon. It felt even colder with the wind: Wind chills in the minus 40s to minus 60s were recorded across the state.

But some winter-hardy Minnesotans didn’t let the weather interrupt their plans to enjoy the outdoors. Clare Neenan went cross county skiing for a half-hour in St. Paul’s Como Park, finishing the Monday afternoon jaunt with her eyelashes covered in ice.

“When I was blinking, I could tell,” said Neenan, referring to her frozen features. Despite it being the coldest weather she’s ever skied in, the St. Paul resident said she felt fine once she started moving. Plus, she had the park nearly to herself.

“It’s a beautiful day here,” she said.

Others were not so cheery.

“This weather is terrible,” Mike Valtierra said as he waited for a bus on West Seventh Street in St. Paul. Valtierra’s workplace — Anita’s Cafe in St. Paul — was closed for the day because of the cold, but that didn’t stop him from braving the weather to run errands.

“My kids and girlfriend think I’m crazy,” he said.

The cold, which began its descent on the region over the weekend, caused a number of problems for people in the metro area beyond just chattering teeth.

“It was so cold that moisture in the exhaust was freezing to the street and creating what people call black ice,” said St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard. “Pavement could be dry one moment and slippery the next.”

By midafternoon Monday, firefighters responded to four accidents, two of which were rollovers, on Interstate 94 in St. Paul. Several other traffic accidents also occurred in the city, Zaccard said.

Regions Hospital in St. Paul reported being busy with a number of hypothermia and frostbite cases.

There were seven or eight calls about burst pipes, which had firefighters out shutting off water and cleaning up, Zaccard said.

“The message here is to make sure all the heat in your building is on,” he said. Water pipes need to be at least at 50 degrees, Zaccard said.

The cold was partly to blame for a power outage in Dakota County, said Dakota Electric spokesman Joe Miller.

More than 1,700 customers lost power at 3:22 a.m. Monday when a cold-stressed utility pole snapped, he said. Power was restored for 1,100 within an hour; the rest had power by 7 a.m.

This spell of frigid air will continue Tuesday, which is expected to see a morning low of about 20 below zero in the Twin Cities and a high that will barely climb above zero. Wind chill once again will be a factor, and it could feel like 30 below at times, according to the National Weather Service.

A number of school districts, including St. Paul and Minneapolis, will remain closed for a second day. Gov. Mark Dayton shut down schools across the state Monday because of the weather but left the decision on classes Tuesday up to individual school districts.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley will reopen to the public Tuesday after being closed one day.

St. Paul Parks and Recreation is canceling or closing outside activities and skating rinks until 3 p.m. Tuesday or until the wind chill and temperature are above minus 25.

Because of the cold snap and closed schools, the Bloomington megamall decided to open up its rides to everyone until the park closed at 9:30 p.m. “We really wanted to treat the guests who came to the mall,” spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said Monday.

An all-day unlimited-ride wristband at Nickelodeon Universe usually sells for $30.99.

The Twin Cities will remain under a wind-chill warning through noon Tuesday. The weather service warned that such extreme conditions can freeze exposed flesh in minutes.

The cold will keep its clamp on the Twin Cities through Wednesday morning, when the area finally should see some above-zero temperatures. The high Wednesday is expected to be in the single digits before jumping into the teens Thursday and nearing 30 on Friday, when there’s also a 20 percent chance of snow.

The forecast calls for temperatures near 29 on Saturday and near 33 on Sunday, and both days are expected to see some sun.

Monday’s high of 12 below was the coldest high temperature in the Twin Cities since Feb. 2, 1996, when the mercury didn’t rise above minus 17. Monday’s low of minus 23 was the lowest low since Jan. 30, 2004, when it hit minus 24.

Neither the high nor low temperature was a record for the date. A minus-14 mark for the coldest high was set in 1909, and a low of minus 27 was set in 1912 and 1887.

Brimson, in northeastern Minnesota, had the distinction of having the lowest temperature Monday — 40 below zero — in the continental U.S. The highest temperature was 85 degrees at several locations in southern Florida.

Mara Gottfried has been a Pioneer Press reporter since 2001, mostly covering public safety. Gottfried lived in St. Paul as a young child and returned to the Twin Cities after graduating from the University of Maryland. You can reach her at 651-228-5262.

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